Should Oakdale build a new mall on the town park that houses a 300-year-old oak tree, or save the park for future generations? Read the newspaper article that started the controversy. Then read letters to the editor for and against the new mall. Then learn how you can write a persuasive letter about something that is important to you.
"What can organizational leaders in business, education, government, and most any enterprise learn from an unemployed, unmarried woman who lived in patriarchal, misogynistic rural England more than 200 years ago? As it turns out, a great deal. In identifying the core virtues of Austen's heroines-confidence, integrity, humility, playfulness, pragmatism, and diligence-Andrea Kayne uncovers the six principles of internally referenced leadership. Utilizing practical exercises, real-life case studies, and literary and leadership scholarship, Kicking Ass in a Corset is a road map for effective leadership that teaches readers of any age or profession how to tune out the external noise and listen to themselves"--
A guide to the forgotten waterways hidden throughout the five boroughs Beneath the asphalt streets of Manhattan, creeks and streams once flowed freely. The remnants of these once-pristine waterways are all over the Big Apple, hidden in plain sight. Hidden Waters of New York City offers a glimpse at the big city’s forgotten past and ever-changing present, including: Minetta Brook, which ran through today's Greenwich Village Collect Pond in the Financial District, the city's first water source Newtown Creek, separating Brooklyn and Queens Bronx River, still a hotspot for urban canoeing and hiking Filled with eye-opening historical anecdotes and walking tours of all five boroughs, this is a side of New York City you’ve never seen.
The history of American cities is a history of suburbs. It is a history of moving out and settling in, of technological innovation, of rearrangements of space, and the creation and erosion of community. Oak Park was Sacramento's first suburb, and before being officially annexed to the city in 1911, it prided itself on having separate law enforcement, its own newspaper, and perhaps most importantly, its own amusement park--Joyland. Unlike the more elite neighborhoods of Land Park and East Sacramento, Oak Park has always reflected working-class values and a less pretentious approach to architecture. Today, Oak Park is actively rediscovering and reestablishing its roots as a distinct, vital community and urban center.
Ventura County's largest unincorporated community was born in the mid-1960s on pastoral ranchland previously owned by the radio comedy team of Fibber McGee and Molly in the 1950s and by William Randolph Hearst from the mid-1920s through the 1930s. Originally a Native American site, Oak Park was designed by its builder as a "community in the country" capturing "the scenic grandeur of early California, west of the San Fernando Valley." Today, it is still widely known for its award-winning schools, beautiful parks, creekside bike paths and nature trails, and a diverse, well-educated population. Many of its nearly 15,000 residents commute to and from Los Angeles. These historic images demonstrate why Oak Park has become one of the most desirable places to live in Southern California.
An intimate look at one majestic hundred-year-old oak tree through four seasons--and the reality of global climate change it reveals. In the life of this one grand oak, we can see for ourselves the results of one hundred years of rapid environmental change. It's leafing out earlier, and dropping its leaves later as the climate warms. Even the inner workings of individual leaves have changed to accommodate more CO2 in our atmosphere. Climate science can seem dense, remote, and abstract. But through the lens of this one tree, it becomes immediate and intimate. In Witness Tree, environmental reporter Lynda V. Mapes takes us through her year living with one red oak at the Harvard Forest. We learn about carbon cycles and leaf physiology, but also experience the seasons as people have for centuries, watching for each new bud, and listening for each new bird and frog call in spring. We savor the cadence of falling autumn leaves, and glory of snow and starry winter nights. Lynda takes us along as she climbs high into the oak's swaying boughs, and scientists core deep into the oak's heartwood, dig into its roots and probe the teeming life of the soil. She brings us eye-level with garter snakes and newts, and alongside the squirrels and jays devouring the oak's acorns. Season by season she reveals the secrets of trees, how they work, and sustain a vast community of lives, including our own. The oak is a living timeline and witness to climate change. While stark in its implications, Witness Tree is a beautiful and lyrical read, rich in detail, sweeps of weather, history, people, and animals. It is a story rooted in hope, beauty, wonder, and the possibility of renewal in people's connection to nature.
Oak Park and River Forest are a mecca for Wright scholars and enthusiasts. Nowhere else can one visit so many Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and experience the architect's Prairie-style philosophy so fully. Hometown Architect is a thorough chronicle of that experience. Even if you have not had the good fortune to see these houses firsthand, the textual and photographic tours comprising this book will make you feel as though you have. Hometown Architect presents twenty-seven Wright homes, and Unity Temple, documenting one of the architect's most influential periods of his career. The last chapter surveys eight lost, altered, and possibly Wright homes. More than ninety photographs of the buildings' exteriors and interiors are accompanied by descriptive captions, while introductory text to each chapter details the story behind each commission, addressing Wright's relationships with his clients, the importance of each building in Wright's oeuvre, and the characteristics that make each house unique. The endpapers of this book feature a map locating all the sites discussed. By Patrick F. Cannon, introduction by Paul Kruty, photography by James Caulfield. Published in cooperation with the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
Founded in the 1830s by Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings, an intrepid young couple from Yorkshire, England, the small settlement of Oak Park grew slowly until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Before the ashes had cooled, Oak Park's population boomed as displaced families relocated into the community on the west edge of Chicago. By the turn of the 20th century, this thriving village became a magnet attracting ever-larger numbers of prosperous, progressive people to settle in what many referred to as "the finest of the streetcar suburbs." In the 1960s and 1970s, Oak Park became widely recognized for encouraging racial and ethnic diversity. Though best known for such residents as architect Frank Lloyd Wright and novelist Ernest Hemingway, Oak Park also lays claim to scores of others who have shone brightly in the national spotlight, as well as current folks who are passionate, daring, and dynamic. More than 100 noteworthy Oak Parkers-- past and present--are featured in this volume, from writers and restaurateurs to mobsters and movie stars.
A comprehensive historical reference on metropolitan Chicago encompasses more than 1,400 entries on such topics as neighborhoods, ethnic groups, cultural institutions, and business history, and furnishes interpretive essays on the literary images of Chicago, the built environment, and the city's sports culture.